Hidden Talents
by HannahGallifrey
Summary: OC-centric story based in the hidden sand. just road-testing some characters, really.
1. Chapter 1

Akemi had a fairly normal upbringing as a young child in the Hidden Sand. She was a bright-eyed toddler with pale skin, black eyes and silver hair. Her father, Daisuke, a Jonin, doted on her while her mother, Azumi, a villager, kept house and was much stricter. Akemi loved to play with her father's fluffy silver hair when she sat on his shoulders and would steal his kunai to practice with, much to her mother's displeasure. They were a very happy family- until Akemi was four.

Just weeks after they had celebrated her fourth birthday, a Jonin appeared at the door, bandaged from a fight. It was one of Daisuke's teammates that would come around from time to time, just enough that Akemi and Azumi knew him. Akemi was in the front room, playing, when her mother let out a terrible wail and started to sob, making her jump in fright.

'mama, what's wrong?' akemi asked, toddling up behind her mother with a toy shuriken in one hand. she reached for the item in her mother's hand- her father's forehead protector.

'I'm sorry, ma'am. He saved all our lives and completed the mission. He will be greatly missed.'

Azumi sobbed, rubbing at her black eyes to try and stop the tears long enough to speak. 'no, no! this can't be happening!' she insisted, ignoring her daughter as she tugged on a sleeve. After a moment, Akemi gave up tugging and looked to her father's teammate.

'Mr. Masaaki, what's happening? Where is father?' the man gave a heavy sigh and knelt down to be on a level with the four-year-old.

'Akemi, your father isn't coming back. He died saving us on a mission.' At this, her eyes filled with tears. 'but he promised! He _promised_ he was coming back!' she insisted, and the Jonin gave a small nod. 'I know. He said to tell you he was sorry and to make you promise to do your best when you start the academy.' At this, the toddler nodded tearfully and Masaaki patted her gently on the head before getting back to his feet. 'there will be a memorial tomorrow.' With that, he left with both girls still standing in the doorway, crying, one with a toy shuriken and one with her husband's forehead protector.

By the time Akemi started at the academy the following year, she had fallen out with everyone she had once been friends with. The loss of her doting father had hit her hard and she was going to honor his final wish to do her very best at learning to be a ninja. Her mother stopped taking her to the playground because of her constant challenging of the other children to spar.

'Akemi, please don't start any fights at the Academy,' Azumi begged as she went to drop the child off. 'I don't want to hear of that on your first day, understand?'

Akemi hung her head and uttered a very sullen, 'yes, mother.' She looked up at the sound of a bell, the signal for school to begin, and hurried off to find her homeroom.

Once she got to the room, she surveyed the rows of students there, immediately spotting the only empty seat, next to the biggest kid in the class. They weren't burly or fat, just bigger than everyone else, so they were probably the oldest in the class. They were sitting and staring out of the window and another boy was sitting on the opposite side of the table, leaving the chair in the middle free. Akemi moved up and took the seat, glancing curiously to the fellow.

'hello? I'm Akemi. What's your name?' her mother had told her she needed to make friends, and Akemi supposed that others in her class would be more likely to want to spar and train.

The boy turned away from the window with a broad smile. 'my name's Tamotsu. Pleased to meet you, Akemi!' he piped, clearly happy that someone had bothered to talk to him. Akemi couldn't help but recoil in surprise at Tamotsu's pupilless, silver-white eyes. His skin was every bit as pale as hers, and his hair was chin-length and jet black, partly held back with a bit of strap that covered his forehead. His smile faltered at the look on her face.

'what…what happened to your eyes?' she managed to ask him, slowly relaxing.

'huh? Ah, I was born with them. My dad's are like this too.' He offered another friendly smile, this time shutting his eyes, and Akemi nodded. Their teacher came in then and they couldn't talk anymore, but Akemi gave the boy a deep nod to indicate she wanted to talk more when the lesson was over.

Once school got out for the day, Akemi stayed behind as Tamotsu packed his things, wanting more explanation. 'so, why are your eyes so weird? It looks like they have no pupil.'

Tamotsu raised a surprised eyebrow at her. 'you're one to talk- your eyes are _so_ black it's like they have no color!'

'hey! My eyes are perfectly normal! You're the weird one!' Akemi said, offended. 'plenty of people have dark eyes, but I've never met one with white ones before.'

'well, that's probably because my dad and I are the only two in the whole sand village. We're easy to miss.' Tamotsu, unlike the girl, didn't seem too offended by her statements. He was just happy someone around his age was willing to talk to him. 'he said it's something special only our family has.'

'well, it's special, all right. And creepy.' She paused for a moment, then added, 'well, it's kind of pretty, too, I guess. I could get used to it.'

Tamotsu beamed at her. 'could we be friends? I don't really have any,' he admitted to the silver-haired girl, who was surprised.

'well…sure, I guess. I don't really have any friends, either. Nobody ever wants to train with me.'

'well, I'll train with you!' Tamotsu blurted eagerly. 'I bet father would help out too- he's a Jonin. What about your family?'

'oh, um…my mother's not a shinobi.' Akemi didn't want to say anything more, and just looked at the ground sadly. The boy opened his mouth to ask about her father but saw her flinch in anticipation of the question and figured out the answer on his own.

'ah…I'm sorry, Akemi. You're welcome to come visit.' They reached the front doors and Akemi peeked out, seeing her mother with a few other parents. A blue-eyed, black-haired woman was standing near Azumi and the two were chatting casually, waiting for their children. 'oh, that's my mom. She's not a shinobi either,' Tamotsu said, pointing to the blue-eyed woman. Akemi pointed to Azumi- long jet-black hair and black-as-night eyes. 'cool. That's my mom talking to her.' The pair pushed the door open and hurried out in front of a flurry of older students, heading for their mothers.

Tamotsu's mother opened her arms wide, crouching a little as her child ran toward her for a hug. Azumi, on the other hand, was taken aback at the friend that her daughter had made. She was clearly more than just a little off-put by the boy's eyes- she knew those eyes and what they represented, somehow. Akemi ran up to her and gave her a genuine smile such as she hadn't seen in many months. 'mom, I made a friend just like you said to. This is Tamotsu- he's in my class.'

Azumi took her daughter's hand in a rather firmer than normal grip. 'that's nice, dear. Let's go home now.'

'what? Mom, let go!' Akemi pulled against her mother's grip as she towed the child home at a fast pace with Tamotsu and his mother watching in confusion, along with a few other parents.


	2. Chapter 2

Akemi came to school the next day with a sulky, sad look. She sat beside Tamotsu and stared at the desk for a moment, not speaking.

'what's wrong, Akemi?' Tamotsu asked, not able to bear the silence after a minute or two.

'my mom says I'm not allowed to be friends with you any more,' the silver-haired girl mumbled to the tabletop. Tamotsu was a bit taken aback at that.

'but why not? Did I do something wrong?' he asked, eyes wide with surprise and a tiny bit of fear. He didn't want to lose his only friend when he'd only just met her. Akemi shook her head, still not looking up.

'no, I don't think so. She wouldn't tell me why, she just said to stay away from you.' In fact, their conversation had been very puzzling to the five-year-old. She had never seen her mother afraid of anything, but she seemed scared of the white-eyed little boy. 'well, actually, she said it was because your eyes were dangerous. But that's silly.' Akemi finally looked up to her classmate. 'they're not dangerous, are they?'

Tamotsu shook his head with a smirk. 'they might be scary-looking, but I don't think they're anything special. My dad said he was going to teach me how to use my eyes when I turn 6 next month, but I don't know what he meant. He's going to teach me a special family Taijutsu style too- I can't wait for that.' His smirk fell and he looked concerned again. 'your mom really won't let us be friends because of me and my eyes? That's mean.'

Akemi looked Tamotsu in the eye and a spark of determination lit in the onyx depths. 'yeah, it's mean and it's wrong. I'm still going to be your friend, Tamotsu- my mother is just being silly.' With that settled, the teacher came in and the class begun. Tamotsu thanked her with a nod.

Once their second day of class was over, the two made a plan. 'now that I'm in the academy, mom should let me go to the market by myself. So I'll tell her I want to go there on Friday, and then I'll come visit your house for a little while. Will that work, do you think?'

'there's only one way to find out. We'll meet at the dumpling shop, in case she follows you, and I'll lead you to my house from there. My dad will be home from a mission by then, and I bet he'd love to meet you!' Tamotsu bounced a little with excitement and the pair gathered their things, making sure they left the doors separately even though their mothers weren't there this time.

When Friday came around, Akemi was honestly surprised at her mother's agreement with her daughter's wish to go by herself to the market road. 'you have to be back before sundown, but you can go if you want.' She gave her daughter a small purse with a few coins in it. 'you can get a few pieces of candy if you want, or a snack. I want you back for the evening meal, though, so don't pig out too much.' She smiled, and patted Akemi's silver-haired head. 'go make some new friends, dear, and have fun.' The little girl tucked the tiny purse into her school bag and headed for the academy.

'thank you mom! I will!' she scampered off to the academy to tell Tamotsu the good news.

'that's fantastic! And my dad got home last night, so you get to meet him too!' the little boy bounced in excitement while they waited for their first Friday of class to begin.

'you never said- what's your dad's name? you said he was a Jonin like my dad, so maybe they knew each other.' Akemi hadn't said much of anything about her father, of course, but since he had only died fairly recently it wasn't surprising.

'oh, yeah. His name is Hideaki. What was your dad's name?' Tamotsu smiled with friendly curiosity as Akemi hesitated, feeling as if she'd heard that name before.

'Daisuke.'

That took the little boy aback- he had heard that name a lot in his household over the past few months. 'I know that name! my father was on a mission with him a few months ago! Your dad is the reason I still have mine, you know that?' Akemi looked away, unable to bear Tamotsu's excitement with her own grief welling up. She started to cry, as she almost always did when she thought of her father. 'ah, I'm sorry, Akemi. Your father is a hero. He saved a lot of people besides my dad that day.'

Akemi nodded and sniffled, wiping her nose on her sleeve. 'I don't wanna talk about it anymore.' She looked toward the front of the classroom resolutely and Tamotsu sighed, saying, 'don't worry, you guys are going to get along great.'


	3. Chapter 3

Akemi waited in front of the dumpling shop after school. Tamotsu had run off as soon as they had been dismissed so that he could warn his mother and father of their guest.

'whew…there you are,' a voice panted from behind, and Akemi beamed at her friend as she turned. 'sorry it took so long- my house is a little far from here.' The silver-eyed boy had clearly been running all the way there and back.

'that's okay- I didn't wait too long.' Akemi was still smiling, eager to see what her friend's house was like, and to meet his father. He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd until they were away from the market road, then just led her, letting her hand go. After a good distance, they reached a house not much different than Akemi's own, just in a different part of town. The black-haired woman she'd seen earlier that week was standing outside waiting for them.

'that's my mom,' he said as they reached the blue-eyed woman, who smiled down at the children. 'mom, this is my friend, Akemi.' The woman smiled a little more, noting the yin and yang differences between silver and black Akemi and black and silver Tamotsu. While their colors were backwards from a proper yin and yang, their personalities meshed a little better.

'pleased to meet you, Akemi. Hideaki, our guest has arrived,' the woman called, turning a little toward the house. A few seconds later, the door was opened and a man with deep brown hair cut at chin length and white eyes came out, tying the obi on a casual kimono.

'ah, so this is the little girl I've heard so much about today,' he said with a friendly smile and a little bow. 'I am Hideaki, and this is my wife, Hitomi. You already know Tamotsu, of course.' Akemi couldn't help but grin back at the silver-eyed adult. His smile was infectious, just like his son's.

'pleased to meet you, sir, ma'am. I am Tamotsu's friend Akemi. I wish I could introduce my own parents to you, but that's not really possible.'

The man nodded. 'yes, I understand. Tamotsu already told me your father was Daisuke. I'm actually surprised we've never met- he was on my team. His sacrifice saved, not only my life, but every other shinobi on that mission. You should be very proud of him.'

Akemi's eyes started to water and she fought the urge to cry, sniffling a little. 'I am proud of him. But it isn't fair he didn't come back.' She sniffled again and rubbed at her eyes with one fist. 'as for my mother, she's just silly. She saw his eyes-' she pointed to her friend- 'and said they were dangerous and that I had to stop being friends with him. But I didn't listen.'

This took Hideaki a bit aback. There was surprise on his face for a moment, but he concealed it quickly. 'well, your mother knows more than she tells you, it would seem. In a way, she's not wrong.'

'what? So your eyes are dangerous somehow? I just thought they looked funny- because they're all white and scary looking.' She glanced to Tamotsu, who looked back at her, equally bewildered. The man let out a snort of laughter.

'why don't we go inside and talk about this? Tamotsu will learn the particulars in a few more weeks anyway, and it would help to have someone his own age willing to train with him who knew also.'

The four people headed inside, with Hitomi heading into the kitchen to make tea and listen in while the two children and Hideaki settled themselves around a table in the front room, he on one side and they on the other. Both children were eagerly sitting up straight, waiting for the Jonin to explain the secrets in his silver-white eyes.

'in my family, those born with pupilless white eyes, like me and Tamotsu, are also born with a special ability. Well…two, I suppose, but they work together as one.' He was enjoying the awestruck looks of wonder on the others' faces. 'this genetically linked special power is commonly referred to as a "kekkei genkai" and eventually you may learn about it in the academy, or perhaps as a genin.' He gave a non-committal grunt and continued. 'the first and most important ability has to do with our eyes. Aptly enough, it's called the Byakugan (AN: 'white eye') and it grants us formidable vision indeed.'

'really? So you can see through walls and things like that?' Akemi asked, grinning. 'or see hidden traps or hiding enemies?' Tamotsu asked, nearly talking over his friend.

Hideaki beamed and gave a small, slow nod. 'that and more. When active, the Byakugan can see a minimum of fifty meters in a full circle around the user. You can see through walls and anything else within that sphere of vision. Most importantly, you can see inside your enemies to the chakra pathway system- though I don't know if you've really learned about that yet.' Noting the confused looks, he gave a small laugh. 'well, never mind, then, you'll learn soon enough. That's probably what your mother meant by "dangerous eyes", Akemi. With vision like that, we-' he paused as if stopping himself from saying a name. 'we in this family become very formidable opponents.'

'What about the other ability we have, father? You said there were two.' Tamotsu bounced eagerly and Akemi snapped out of her thoughts as she was wondering why her mother knew about something her friend did not.

'the easiest way to put it is that we have excellent chakra control, and we can use it to fight with. There's a special family style of taijutsu called Juuken, where we hit the enemy's chakra system instead of just hitting the outside. It causes injury with very little effort on our part- a graze can cause far more damage than a punch or kick.' Both children's eyes lit with excited wonder again.

'wow!' Tamotsu exclaimed. 'you're going to teach me how to do that on my birthday?' Hideaki grinned. 'well, first, I have to help you activate your byakugan- it's no use trying to hit your enemy's chakra points if you can't see them.' Akemi gave a glum sigh and both boys looked at her in confusion.

'I wish I could do something cool like that- you're really lucky, Tamotsu, you know that?' they were momentarily saved from replying by the arrival of tea and a few small snacks courtesy of Hitomi, who settled next to her husband afterward. 'I think everyone's got something special they can do,' the woman said, making Akemi look up in a little surprise. 'I'll bet that one day you'll beat him at something, or else be able to do something he can't. don't sell yourself short because you think you were born in the wrong family.'

'speaking of family, what did you say your mother's name was? I haven't been able to meet her.' Hideaki had been thinking about that since Akemi had mentioned that her mother had commented about dangerous eyes. To his knowledge, that would mean the woman had met someone with his eyes before, though she should have had no reason to.

'oh, right. My mother's name is Azumi. I hope you do get to meet- you're very nice, and perhaps you can change her mind about letting me be friends. I had to sneak here from the market street today.' The man gave a hum of thoughtfulness. He didn't know the name offhand. It was possible they had never met before, and the woman had just picked up some stray information about them. From Daisuke, maybe? That was the only logical source. 'ah, excuse me, but I have to go. Mom told me to be home before sundown.' She had glanced out the window to notice the sun nearing the horizon. If her mother had to go searching for her, the game would be up. 'see you soon!' she said, hopping up and heading for the door. 'thank you for inviting me, Tamotsu. Your family is very nice.' With that, she hurried home.


	4. Chapter 4

The following three weeks after Akemi's informative visit to Tamotsu's home were fairly uneventful. Azumi finally relented and allowed her daughter and the white-eyed boy to be friends, much to the happiness of both. They spent almost every afternoon training or studying together, most often under Azumi's watchful eye, or once or twice with Hitomi. Finally, the day of Tamotsu's 6th birthday came around, and Akemi begged her mother to attend.

'all right, but I'm going with you,' Azumi said after several afternoons and a morning of her child's pleading. 'I don't mind your friend, but I don't trust his father. Haven't you noticed I don't let you go to his house when he's home?' that was true- whenever Tamotsu invited her over, Akemi's mother would ask if his father was home. If the boy said yes, Akemi would suddenly find herself with made-up chores to do so that she couldn't go.

'aww, mom! Nobody else's parents are going to be there! Don't embarrass me!' the silver-haired girl whined, pouting a little.

'either I go with you, or you don't go. And that's my final word.' The little girl grumbled under her breath but finally gave a little bow of agreement.

'I don't know what you have against them. Their "white eye" isn't dangerous.'

Azumi, who had turned to finish making breakfast, turned back around in shock. 'what did you say?' Akemi immediately realised her mistake- rather than saying "white eyes" in the normal way, she had used the term Hideaki had- byakugan.

'their eyes aren't dangerous,' Akemi said, hoping her mother wouldn't notice the substitution, but of course she did.

'no, you said Byakugan. Who taught you that word?' Azumi was brandishing the cooking chopsticks and looked ready to skewer something- or someone- with them.

'well…'

'answer me, Akemi. Who taught you that word?!'

'Tamotsu's dad did! I met him already a few weeks ago. He's super nice and he taught both of us about his byakugan and what it could do. It's not dangerous, mom, it's really cool. He's going to teach Tamotsu how to use his now that he's six.' Akemi had blurted all of this with her eyes shut, not wanting to see if her mother decided to use those chopsticks on her. After a second of silence, she peeked an eye open to see her mother standing stock-still with a shocked expression.

'Akemi…why didn't you tell me this before?' she said in a small voice after a moment. Catching a whiff of the stove, she quickly turned back to breakfast, rescuing it and putting it in bowls. She set them on the table and Akemi started scarfing down her food so she wouldn't be late for class.

'I thought you'd be really mad at me.' The little girl finished her food and scooped up her pack, hurrying out the door without another word, darting through the streets on the way to the academy. About two-thirds of the way there, she accidentally ran into someone only a little bit bigger than her, bouncing backwards and falling down. 'sorry!' she yelped, scrambling back to her feet. The 7 year old boy turned and glared at her angrily, and Akemi trembled as she took in the details. Hate-filled pupilless mint green eyes, ringed with black, pale skin and scruffy, unkempt auburn hair. The Kanji for love was marked on the left side of the boy's forehead. _Gaara._ 'Sorry!' she squeaked again, running off before the boy could do anything. She'd heard rumors in class already about that boy and wasn't keen on finding out if any of them were true.

Class, luckily, passed without incident, and Azumi was waiting for Akemi when school let out, guiding her back home and having her change into something a little more fancy than her everyday clothes. 'so, are you going to let me go alone now?' the little girl asked her mother, and she laughed a little.

'of course not. I need to go with you now more than ever. I have to apologize to Hideaki for my misconceptions of him.' She straightened her daughter's sash, tightening the butterfly bow in the back of the simple kimono and eyeing her unruly and untameable silvery hair. _She had to get her father's hair._ 'come on, the party begins at 6.'

'I know, mom. I told you that.' Akemi giggled a little, grinning at her mother, wearing a pretty yellow yukata with a green sash, deep black eyes shining and long pitch-black hair hanging straight as always. She offered her hand for her mother to take and led her on the usual path to her friend's house.

A few of Akemi and Tamotsu's classmates were already there at the party, and there were, contrary to Akemi's expectations, a few other adults present, most notably Masaaki, who she hadn't seen since her father's memorial. Akemi went to play with the other children and Azumi went to the other adults, quickly spotting Hideaki by his eyes. He was chatting with Masaaki about gossip from the other nations.

'-the worst one I've heard, though, is from the leaf village,' Azumi overheard as she approached.

'do tell,' Hideaki said, leaning closer with great interest.

'I heard just recently that one of the Leaf's famous clans- they've got a lot, you know- one of them has been slaughtered. Every member, in one night.'

'WHAT?! Do you know which one?' the man looked very distressed, and Azumi was likewise horror-struck beyond the other adults, who were now all listening in.

'if I remember right, it was the Uchihas. Those scary copycats from the third world war. Only one little kid was left alive, and the murderer I guess. Who else could be strong enough to wipe out the whole clan but one of their own, eh?'

While Hideaki let out a great sigh of relief that it had not been the Hyuuga clan, as he had feared, Azumi found herself unable to breathe. She quickly found herself a seat and sank into it, onyx eyes staring at nothing at all.


	5. Chapter 5

Hideaki turned and finally spotted the newcomer among his guests, offering a smile. 'hello there, whose parent are you?' he asked, snapping the black haired and black eyed woman out of an apparent trance.

'I'm Akemi's mother, Azumi.' The woman looked a bit haunted but concealed it after a moment, putting on a smile and standing. 'I wanted to come and apologize for my mistaken assumptions about you. Please, forgive me.'

'ah, there's no trouble. You are, of course, completely right about my abilities- just not, perhaps, about my intentions and personality.' She offered a small bow and Hideaki waved the gesture away with a small smile. 'no need for that. We'll start at the beginning. I am Hideaki, Tamotsu's father. I believe you've met Hitomi, my wife, as well as my son.'

'pleased to finally meet you. I believe you've already met my daughter, Akemi.' Hideaki's grin got a little wider and he looked a bit abashed.

'that was her idea, I assure you. She said she didn't think your reasons were good enough that she and Tamotsu could not be friends.'

Azumi let out a deep, mournful sigh. 'I know they were not. After I lost my husband I became even more protective of her than I had been before. You and your family could have turned out to be the greatest threat to her and one I could not hope to protect her from- as a villager, I mean.'

The last part of that sentence didn't seem necessary to Hideaki, but he decided to ignore it. 'may I ask you something?'

'certainly.'

'how is it you know about my kekkei genkai? Very few people here in the Hidden Sand village know of my abilities.'

The question caught Azumi off guard and she thought fast, trying to think of a logical reason. 'well…I must have read a book about it at some point, I suppose.'

Hideaki frowned at this. 'I didn't know there were any books written about us available to villagers. I had thought perhaps Daisuke told you, since I was his teammate.'

'oh! You're right, I remember now. He was reading a report and I asked about his teammates and he talked about you and your special eyes.' She hoped her quick cover-up would be accepted. The man let out a small grunt and decided to drop the matter, though he was still quite suspicious.

'have you heard the news? Masaaki was just telling me that the Uchiha clan of the Hidden Leaf has been massacred, with only one confirmed survivor.'

'oh, yes, I heard you talking,' she said flatly, looking away from Hideaki's silver-white eyes toward the floor. 'how tragic that such a thing could happen.'

Her flat reaction surprised the man even more, but before he could ask another question he was interrupted by several sets of small, running feet. 'father, it's 6:30 now,' Tamotsu announced, standing eagerly at the front of a small pack of 5 children.

'is it that time already? Very well, go back outside, and we'll follow behind you.'

The children happily scampered out again and Hideaki and the other adults followed them out, with Azumi bringing up the rear. She was preoccupied again and jumped slightly as Akemi came over to her, taking her hand, as Tamotsu and his father stepped out into the small courtyard in the middle of the house.

'in my family we inherit special abilities from generation to generation. This can easily be seen in our eyes. Now that my son is 6 years old, I will begin teaching him in the use of these inborn abilities. I ask you to witness as he uses the Byakugan for the first time.' Hideaki turned to Tamotsu for a moment and murmured something to him, and the boy nodded, closing his silver-white eyes for a moment and making a handsign for better focus.

Suddenly he snapped his eyes open again and veins bulged across his temples and the tops of his cheeks. One of the children there squeaked in fright. He stood stock-still for a moment, taking everything in. 'wow,' he breathed after a moment. 'I can see _everything_. There really are pathways of chakra inside people-' he held up a hand to look closer- 'and inside me too!'

While tamotsu was marvelling over his newfound visual prowess, his father walked around behind him. Once he was completely behind his son where everyone knew he would be completely unable to see, he lunged with a knife hand toward the top of Tamotsu's head. Before anyone watching was able to let out a gasp or cry of warning, Tamotsu had already blocked the attack as if he could see it easily.

'three-hundred sixty degrees in a fifty-meter radius,' he said to those watching, lifting his hand and letting the boy relax, his eyes returning to normal. 'we'll work more later, when everyone else has gone,' he told his son. The children cheered and ran over to congratulate Tamotsu and led him off in a little mob to dinner.


	6. Chapter 6

Tamotsu's sixth birthday was definitely the highlight of the following months for Akemi. Tensions between her family and her friend's had eased considerably, though Hideaki was still not welcome in Azumi's home and after the party she didn't go to his. While this puzzled both Akemi and Tamotsu, they didn't bother much with it. After all, they were too busy with twice weekly training sessions, supervised by Hideaki, to teach his son how to use Juuken and his friend the best way to block strikes to vital areas. Akemi inevitably came home with sore and often bruised forearms and legs, though she was very good at blocking after a month or two of instruction.

It was just a few days from her own sixth birthday when something really noteworthy happened again. Azumi and Akemi were walking home that evening from the market road and were using the backroads to avoid any crowds on the main streets of the village. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a man appeared in front of the mother-daughter pair, quickly flanked by two other men. Akemi stared in wide-eyed alarm and Azumi pulled her daughter a little closer to her.

'what have we here? A young mother and her beautiful daughter, and nary a husband in sight?' the man sneered, arms crossed over her chest.

'leave us be. We just want to get home and make dinner,' Azumi said flatly, black eyes narrowed and glaring at the man who'd spoken. Her hand tightened a little on her daughter's shoulder and she shifted the groceries in her other arm, ready to drop them if need be.

'oh, yes, groceries will be nice, as well as money,' the man said, his sneer turning to a very evil smirk. Akemi let out a frightened sound as she looked behind her and saw two more thugs, these ones clearly armed.

'mama, I'm scared,' she whimpered. Training was one thing, but this was at least five thugs much bigger than her. There was no way she could hope to beat them. One maybe, and that was enough for her to get away, but what about her mother? She was just a villager!

'go on, then. Hand over your purse and your food, and _maybe_ then we'll let you go unscathed…' the man taunted, drawing a kunai for himself. He didn't like the fact that Azumi didn't look scared at all. She looked furious.

'Akemi, when I tell you to run, you go as fast as you can, understand?' Azumi said in a low aside to her daughter. The girl gave a tiny whimper but nodded all the same. 'I'll give you one last chance- leave us be, or I will have to use force.' As she said this, the black-haired woman shifted one foot back into a fighting stance.

'I like a challenge. Get them!'

'Akemi, RUN!'

The silver-haired little girl hesitated long enough to hear the groceries hit the packed earth path of the alleyway before bolting, tripping the man who stood in her way as he moved in. she looked over her shoulder as she fled, and had to skid to a halt a short distance away at the red glow that shone from her mother's face shortly before a fireball threw the thugs backwards against the walls of the alleyway or out of it completely. 'mama!' she yelped, then, remembering her mother's admonishment, she turned tail again and fled as two of the men got up and spotted her still standing a short distance away.

Rather than running to her own empty house, akemi realised when she came back to her senses that she was just a turn or two from Tamotsu's house. Hideaki was outside on the front porch as she came skidding to a halt, panting and bent nearly double.

'Akemi! What's the matter?' the white-eyed man blurted, jumping to his feet and looking around warily for any sign the child was being pursued.

'…bandits….mother…attack…' she managed to pant, hands on her knees and legs shaking. 'water…' she gasped, and hideaki caught the little girl as her legs gave out, keeping her from falling down.

'come inside and explain everything,' he commanded, scooping her up and carrying her inside, quickly getting her a large glass of water, which she managed to down in just a few large gulps. Tamotsu, hearing a ruckus, came from his room and hurried over, seeing the state his friend was in.

'Akemi! What happened to you?' he asked, sitting down at the table across from her. She set the water glass down now that it was empty and coughed to clear her throat. 'a bunch of thugs attacked my mother and I,' she began, and everyone in the room was alarmed at that.

'where is she?'

'I –I don't know. I think- I don't know.' Akemi gave a shiver, her eyes haunted. 'I saw things I can't explain.'

'like what?' hideaki seemed more interested than concerned now.

'mother told me to run, and I did,' she began, 'but then…I had to turn around. And- I swear her eyes were glowing red, like a demon. Then there was just this massive ball of fire, and that's all I saw. I ran straight here, and I didn't even realise.'

'where was this?'

'two blocks off the market square, in an alley that runs straight most of the way to our house.'

Hideaki abruptly disappeared, leaving a bit of wind behind as he went to help Azumi and find out what had happened.

'Tamotsu…do you think it was my mother who made that fireball?' akemi still looked rather haunted and clutched the empty water glass in her hands.

'well, it can't have been- she's a villager, after all. Villagers don't know ninjutsu. _You_ don't even know ninjutsu yet, Akemi, so how could she?' Tamotsu could see that his silver-haired friend wasn't convinced. Her mother's eyes had glowed like the coals in a furnace- was it so far-fetched to believe she had more abilities than she'd ever let on?


	7. Chapter 7

It was a relatively short distance for Hideaki to go from his house to the place Akemi had said they were attacked. He approached warily once he was near, uncertain of just what he'd find. He darted forward at the sight of a body on the ground, but a cursory inspection showed the man was just knocked out, and a bit singed from flame. In addition, he was only a villager, and not a ninja, which was good news. He straightened from the man and looked around the rest of the alley.

Scorch marks on both walls; 3 knocked-out and singed thugs; a bag of groceries left abandoned in the center of the alleyway, And no sign of Azumi anywhere. This was both puzzling and concerning. He'd had suspicions about the onyx-eyed woman since they'd met, but had been content to let the matter rest for months now. Looking at the remains of a battle around him, he now doubted he had done the right thing in not questioning the woman further.

'Azumi? Are you there?' he called softly, stepping a bit farther into the alley and looking about normally, not wanting to scare the woman by using his Byakugan if it wasn't necessary.

There was a rustle slightly behind him and Hideaki whirled to see a piece of sheet metal shift and reveal Azumi, slightly dusty and ruffled but completely uninjured and burn-free.

'Azumi! Thank goodness you're all right! Your daughter came to us and said you'd been attacked, and I came as soon as I could.' He glanced around at the three unconscious men on the ground as one of them started to stir faintly.

'we were attacked, yes,' she said, giving a faint shiver. 'I told Akemi to run, and I didn't know what I would do. Something distracted the men and I hid when this massive ball of fire went through the alley. I wasn't brave enough to come out and see the aftermath, but I suppose it's good the thugs are still alive to answer for their crimes.'

For some reason, Hideaki didn't remotely believe this version of events, not the least because it differed so much from Akemi's account. 'I'll take care of it from here, Azumi. You can go and fetch Akemi from my house.' Azumi nodded, moving to leave. 'I do want to speak with you sometime soon, though. Privately.' Azumi stiffened at those words, but gave another nod, picked up the dropped bag of groceries, and left quickly.

Akemi turned and jumped to her feet with a cry of relief as her mother slid open the front door. 'mama! You're okay!' she exclaimed, wrapping her mother in a tight hug. Azumi patted the silver-haired child on the head gently and nodded to Hitomi.

'everything's all right now. I'm going to take her home.' She gently took her daughter's hand and headed out into the street again, walking at a decently fast pace. Akemi stared up at her mother's face, assuring herself that her mother's eyes were really just as black as they had ever been.

'mama?' she timidly asked after a few moments' hesitation.

'yes, akemi?'

'when you told me to run, I stopped and looked back, and your eyes were scary. They looked really red, like glowing coals.' Akemi gave a tiny shiver at the shocking memory, still hoping she'd just imagined it.

'you were just scared, and you saw things. Don't worry about it.' Azumi's answer was flat and unyielding, not as caring as akemi expected. What was up with her mother? Noting her daughter's confused expression, Azumi's own face softened a bit. 'I'm sorry; I'm still a bit shaken up by what happened.'


End file.
